Pawprints
by Take Another Look
Summary: A story centering around Sirius's life from the time he was 11, right before getting his letter, to not totally sure yet possible after graduating from Hogwarts. Includes how he met the marauders, many of their adventures, some romance, etc. R&R? please
1. Chapter 1

The scream echoed through the hallway. The 11 year old boy sprinted up the stairs and into the room on the right side of the landing. The door slammed shut and was soon barricaded. The boy new however, that there was no way that would keep her from entering.

He brushed his black hair out of his eyes quickly and then wrestled open the protesting window. The youth stuck his head out and looked down. It was a good three meters down. Taking one look at the rattling door he slipped out the window, landing painfully but successfully on his feet.

The boy stood up and sprinted across the street. There was a park there, a large overgrown old park. He'd gotten lost in it when he was 7, which was one of the reasons he went there now. If it was hard for him to know where he was then it must be hard for his mother to find him as well. He denied himself the right to take into account that his mother had magic at her disposal.

The world could be so cruel.

He slinked his way between the trees and bushes, arriving at a small sheltered alcove. He swung himself up onto a branch and clambered up even further. Once he was a couple of branches up, he sat down. He turned his blue eyes towards the other side of the street when he heard a small explosion.

A light rain began to fall, dodging through the leaves and pattering into his black, wavy hair. The rain ran slowly down his cheeks.

000

"YOU'RE AN UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BOY!" The voice echoed through the hallway.

In the room on the right side of the landing the boy sat on his bed, his head down. The door frame was singed and the door missing, some ashes still on the floor. His mother stood before him, face turning a light shade of red, fists clenched at her sides.

The boy just sat through it all.

The woman gave one last spiteful comment, turned on her heals and stormed out the door.

The boy turned around on his bed and faced the wall. His legs were drawn up to his chest and he had his arms wrapped around them, chin resting on his knees.

A tap rang through the otherwise silent room. On the windowsill sat an owl, a letter clutched in its beak.

The boy stood up reluctantly, opened the window and permitted the rain drenched bird to hop in, though the letter was dry. He grabbed at the letter, but the bird shuffled sideways. The boy was finally able to yank the letter from the owls sharp beak, but not without suffering some pecking.

The letter was addressed to him and had the Hogwarts seal. He stood up slowly, letter in hand and headed towards the stairs. He slowly slunk down the stairs and towards the kitchen. Inside sat his mother and father, he had yet to be noticed.

His mother was speaking. "But seriously, why can't the boy just be more like Regulus?"

A/N: I know it's short, the other ones will hopefully be longer. However, this story is just an idea, and if I get no reviews/messages about it I won't continue it. Your choice. The more support, the faster the updates.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I know the previous chapter was short and didn't have much action. It was simply as sort of an intro and to show Sirius's home situation.

Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and therefore do not own the wonderful world of Harry Potter.

The street was filled with crowds of milling people, many of them parents with their Hogwarts students. Sirius shouldered his empty bag and dodged through the hustle and bustle that was Diagon Alley. He looked this way and that at the various shops, the streets lined with vendors and the showcases filled with arrays of quills, owls, robes, brooms, cauldrons, sweets, books, and more.

He passed Gambol and Jape's joke shop and stopped in front of Ollivander's wand shop. In the display case sat a wand on an old faded purple cushion. Sirius took a deep breath and opened the door, bell jingling as he entered. There was a yell from the back of the shop. "Be right there."

Sirius stepped up to the counter and looked around at the shelves filled with the slim wand boxes. An older man, presumably Ollivander came up to the desk. "You're here for your first wand I suppose?" he asked, a knowing smile on his face.

Sirius nodded. With that Ollivander started off with a question.

"Name?"

"Sirius Black."

"Dragon heart string…" Ollivander muttered under his breath, eyeing Sirius up and down to estimate his height. With that the old man went rummaging around in one of the shelves. "There's one thing you should know. The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Black. So let's start trying some."

He chose a box and headed back to the reception desk. The wand was around 10 inches and a deep mahogany in color. Sirius took the wand in hand and gave it a swish. The potted plant on one of the windowsills shot into flames.

"Not that one then," Ollivander said with a slight chuckle. He took the wand and headed off to a different shelf. "You know, maybe I was wrong about the dragon heart string… why don't we try a nice unicorn hair."

This wand as well was around 10 inches, but was a darker brown and slimmer. When Sirius took it in hand, the bell that sat on the reception desk immediately hovered and began sweeping around the room with the motions that Sirius made. "And there we go!" Ollivander said. Sirius thanked and paid Olliver before heading out into the sunlight again.

He sauntered along the street, looking at the display cases of the various stores. Sirius headed into Flourish and Blotts, not specifically looking forward to purchasing his many books when he could have been spending the money at the joke shop down the street. He went in anyways and was soon searching for his books in the many, many shelves.

Sirius was carrying a wobbly stack of books when someone else knocked into him, sending him and his books toppling. "Sorry about that," the other boy said, reaching down a hand to help up Sirius. He couldn't help but notice the multiple scars the new boy sported on his arms.

"Hi, I'm Sirius Black."

The other boy looked at him suspiciously before introducing himself. "Remus Lupin, soon to be first year at Hogwarts."

"Same here. I am, by the way, nothing like most of the Blacks you must have heard of," Sirius added in. Sirius and Remus continued talking until both had found all the books they needed. "I have to go off to get fitted for robes, but do you want to meet at that ice cream parlor down the street at two?" Sirius said in farewell.

"Sure thing. Bye!"

Sirius and Remus exited Flourish and Blotts, heading in different directions. Sirius stepped into Madam Malkin's robes and got himself the robes he needed for the upcoming year. Sirius's bag was slowly becoming fuller and fuller.

On his way to the Cauldron Shop, Sirius spotted the shop he had wanted to visit all morning. Quality Quidditch Supplies. He scrambled through the door, trying to slip past the crowd that stood at the show case. Inside the shop there was a large crowd as well. Most were staring at the broom that was being put on display. Sirius's mouth dropped open. It was the broom that all the professional quidditch players were ordering. It was the Nimbus 1000.

"Incredible isn't it?" a boy that looked to be around Sirius's age asked him, staring disbelievingly at the broom as well. Sirius nodded at the boy with the disheveled black hair. "I heard it can go up to 100 miles per hour."

"It can turn 360 degrees on the spot as well," Sirius added.

"If only first years were allowed to have brooms and were allowed to join the quidditch team," the second boy grumbled. The two continued to talk as they walked to the cauldron shop and picked out cauldrons. The bell a tower connected to Gringott's chimed two o'clock.

"It's two o'clock. I promised someone I met earlier today who's gonna be a first year this year to meet them at Florean's ice cream now. Want to come?" The other boy nodded and the two sprinted down the street filled with shoppers.

"Hey Remus!" Sirius said as he neared the table that the other youth was seated at.

"Hey," replied Remus, looking up from the book he had been reading. The table was shielded from the sun by the colorful umbrella that magically hung above it.

"This is Remus, I met him while at Flourish and Blotts. This is… who are you?" Sirius finally asked the other.

"Hah, totally forgot about that. I'm James Potter. Nice to meet you Remus," James said while running a hand through his hair.

"Sirius Black. Nice to meet you," Sirius replied, grinning.

"So the both of you are headed to Hogwarts for the first time this year?" Remus asked while signaling a waiter to come take their orders.

"Aw no. This is my seventh year," James replied puffing out his chest and attempting to look taller.

"Ya right dim wit. Like we'd believe that," Sirius said, punching his arm lightly and laughing. The waiter came and took down their orders, soon returning with their ice cream.

The three spent the afternoon eating ice cream and talking. They were soon walking towards Gambol & Japes joke shop.

"So what are your plans for the year James?" Sirius asked him.

"How about… we start off the year with some pranks and end it with a bang."

Remus laughed but couldn't help saying, "you both do know that we go to Hogwarts to learn and that there are rules."

"And you, Remus, must know that rules are made for breaking," James said, a smile playing at his lips.

"Can't deny that," Remus said, laughing. The threesome headed into the joke shop, looking at all the various practical joke sets and purchasing some easy to do prank sets.

"I have to head back to the Leaky Cauldron, I'm staying there until school starts," Sirius told his friends.

"Alright, I better get going as well. My mother will start wondering why I haven't flooed back yet," James grumbled before saying his farewell and heading off to one of the nearer shops to use their fireplace.

"See you on the train tomorrow," Remus said before also heading off.

A/N: From this point on my life is going crazy because finals are coming up and everything, so that means no more chapters probably for a while. Maybe, just maybe I'll get one out tomorrow though. Please do review! I'm still not quite sure if I'm going to continue this.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews!! I'm surprised I actually got feedback. Sorry for the big gap in updates, and there most likely will be another one, but it was production week for the musical I was in (so sad it's over) and next week is finals week.

Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling.

The rain was falling lightly in Diagon Alley. Sirius sat in his hotel room at the Leaky Cauldron, looking out through the window at all the people still bustling around outside. The street was dotted with colorful umbrellas that fended off the light drizzle. Sirius went back to his bed and petted his newly purchased owl. It was a masked owl by the name of Milo.

The rain continued throughout the night and in the morning the cobblestone street was shiny and slippery with puddles. Sirius gathered his things together and stuck his right arm out with his wand once he was outside.

A loud bang echoed throughout the muggle street but no one seemed to noticed, before him stood the Knight Bus. A teenager stepped out.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Marvin Shunpike, and I will be your conductor for today."

"Sirius Black," Sirius introduced himself.

"Where to then?"

"Kings Cross," Sirius replied. With that the bright purple bus was off and cruising through London, squeezing between busses and throwing passengers around with sudden stops.

"Here we are," Marvin said, helping Sirius with his trunk. Sirius thanked him and was off into the railroad station.

Like most people from wizarding families, Sirius knew that platform 9 ¾ didn't exist in the muggle world. He walked towards platform 9, looking for the barrier. Suddenly something rammed into him from behind.

"JAMES POTTER! I told you not to go riding on your baggage cart!" A middle aged witch came bustling over to Sirius helping him up and aiding him with his trunk and owl cage. "I am so sorry," she told Sirius before going to James and picking up his last things as well.

"Where are your manners James? How can I let you go off to school if you don't even know how to say sorry?" Mrs. Potter said in a worried tone, brushing the non-existent dirt off her son.

"Sirius! Hey, sorry about that," the other boy told him before pushing his own baggage cart upright again and walking next to Sirius. "You know how fun these are to ride on. Hey Mum, where's the barrier?"

"Shh, not so loud. It's right over here, come on you two," Jame's mother told them before leading them to a stone wall with the sign for platform 9 on one side and platform 10 on the other.

"Well where's the door?" James asked looking back at his mother.

"On you go," she said before pushing them both through the wall before following them herself.

The first thing the boys saw was the train. Its shiny surface reflected the sunlight. They were out in the open, no muggles and nothing but a stone wall behind them. Mrs. Potter took them both by the arm and brought them farther away from the barrier right as another trio of people came through.

Conductors whistled and bells chimed, the mass of students and parents slowly separated, the students on to the train and the parents remaining where they were. James and Sirius said goodbye to Mrs. Potter and then went rampaging through the crowd towards the Hogwarts Express.

"Come on, I want to get a place to sit before all the window seats are taken!" Sirius yelled at James while pulling him through the crowd behind him. While not looking, Sirius rammed into someone in front of him.

The second year girl turned around. "Oh why look, if it isn't my dear little cousin," Bellatrix hissed maliciously, "I'd watch where you're going if I was you. Don't want to end up with the wrong company now do you?" She glared at James, looking him up and down. Bellatrix turned back to the first year she had been speaking with, Narcissa, but instead also slammed into someone.

"I'd say the same for you, sister dear," a taller girl looking much like Bellatrix said.

"It isn't my fault you were standing there now was it, Andromeda?" Bellatrix hissed at the seventh year.

The conductor gave a final warning call. Andromeda grabbed Sirius, who in turn grabbed James and brought them onto the train. "Don't let her shove you around Sirius. Knowing you, you most likely won't get into Slytherin. Don't get me wrong, that's a good thing. All of them are rotten to the core. Good luck," Sirius's elder cousin said before heading off to her own compartment with her Ravenclaw friends.

"Alright, let's go find Remus and an open apartment," James said, leading the way down the corridor. Three compartments from the back they found both. Remus was sitting in a compartment by himself, reading. He looked up when he heard the door open and a smile crossed his fatigued face.

"Hey guys, you finally made it."

"Walking through that crowd is worse than walking through hell," Sirius commented before plopping himself down unceremoniously on an open seat next to the window. The three boys talked about their summers, their hopes for school, and which houses they wanted to get into (all Gryffindor, what a surprise).

The train slowly began to move and the compartment door opened once more. A boy who looked like a rat poked his head in. The room went quiet until the new boy meekly said, "Um. Hi. There's no other open compartment. Can I sit here?"

James, Sirius, and Remus welcomed him and he came in. After stowing his bags up top he sat down.

Remus began, "So, I'm Remus Lupin. The guy over there is James Potter and that's Sirius Black." He pointed to each of them as he spoke.

The other smaller, and definitely not as attractive boy replied, "Hi. I'm Peter Pettigrew."

A/N: Thought that'd be a good place to stop. I originally wanted this to continue all the way past the sorting, but I guess I'll just put that in the next chapter. Thanks again for the reviews and tell me how you liked this one! :D By the way, I need some names for teachers in this time, so anyone who knows or has names for teachers please tell me!!


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